Is this possibly the best family hotel in the world?
Now that Legoland Dubai has an on-site themed hotel, there’s a complete Lego experience in Dubai your clients’ children should love, finds Katherine Masters
"Mummy, that hotel is so beautiful,” exclaims my four-year-old daughter Evie as our taxi from the airport pulls up outside our intended residence.
We’re in Dubai, but she’s not talking about architectural icon, the sail-like Burj Al Arab. Rather it’s the Legoland Hotel Dubai that has caught her eye – with its multi-coloured blocks edging white and beige paintwork, it looks like a toddler’s birthday cake.
Just like the Burj does serious bling for adults, Legoland Hotel Dubai does serious fun for children.
Open since January 2022, the hotel is right next door to Legoland Dubai, which appeared in 2016 and was joined by Legoland Water Park in 2017. Stay two nights at Legoland Dubai Hotel and entrance to both these parks is included in the price, providing a neatly packaged mini-break tailored for children.
Evie and her brother, Harry, two, are tired and discombobulated after the six-hour overnight flight. However, their lethargy and shyness quickly evaporate with the cheerful welcome from reception staff and the realisation that this hotel is quite different from any other they have stayed in – for starters, there’s a castle-themed soft play in the lobby.
We head up to our Lego Friends room in a lift with a disco ball. Our theme was chosen by Evie on account of its pink and purple scheme but we’d have been equally entranced by a Pirates or a Kingdom room. The theming extends across wall murals, carpets and bedding, and even into the corridors outside. Standard rooms are divided into areas for the bunk beds and the main double.
After changing into shorts and T-shirts – the winter weather in Dubai is a very pleasant 25°C – we head off for our first foray into Legoland Dubai.
We don’t get very far. The hotel lobby is a playground in itself, and our children are immediately distracted, first by a Lego play pit, then a meet and greet with Ollie, the dragon mascot, and finally by the soft play castle and its most appealing feature, a yellow double slide.
Eventually we make a break for it, walk outside past the hotel pool, and exit through the back gate. And there it is, the entrance to Legoland Dubai – it couldn’t be any closer.
LANDS AHOY!
We start with Miniland, the central hub, which connects the other four lands: Adventure, Imagination, Lego Kingdoms and Lego City. Miniland has stunning Lego models of recognisable landmarks in Dubai and elsewhere, including the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
We couldn’t fail to spot this record breaker on our ride from the airport, and now we learn its model counterpart took 5,000 hours to build, using 439,000 Lego bricks – almost as impressive as the real thing. As are the models of the pyramids, Petra and the Taj Mahal. It’s an educational exhibit – for me anyway… the children just want to find and press the interactive buttons.
Next we go on to explore the different lands. There are height restrictions that prevent Evie (100cm) and Harry (80cm) from going on some of the rides, but we find plenty we can do. In Adventure, we board Submarine, an underwater journey through an aquarium tank, which houses sharks, rays and other fish. Duplo Valley in Imagination is a shaded play area with slides, playhouses and over-sized animals, plus a sweet little Duplo Express train ride that Harry adores.
In Lego City Evie gets behind the wheel in Junior Driving School, and I steer a gentle ride for us in Boating School. Rescue Academy needs extra muscle power from adult riders to pump a fire truck towards a “blazing building”, which youngsters can turn water jets on.
There are a clutch of rides, however, that we wistfully investigate, but are turned away from, as riders need to be at least 105cm or taller. Check the individual heights of your clients’ children, because we find the park staff love a measuring stick. The ideal age should be between five and eight although there is fun for all ages, with entertainment pitched at every level.
The beauty of not doing faster rides with twists and turns is that you don’t have to watch what you eat for lunch, so we are able to fully indulge in the fresh-cooked pizza and pasta on offer in Caesars.
SPLASHING ABOUT
It’s a similar story across the way in the Legoland Water Park, where the tallest height restriction is for tube ride Splash and Swirl at 122cm. Three more water slides have a height restriction of 107cm, another four at 102cm.
So my inner daredevil stays happily dormant, while we focus our time on the toddler-friendly areas of the Duplo Splash Safari slides and animal pool area. Evie can also access the lower level of the Joker Soaker, she’s allowed on the Lazy River if she sits in a ring with us and we can all enjoy the knee-height Duplo Wave Pool.
Safety measures are reassuringly omnipresent. There are lifejackets freely available, including an extra-small child size, while lifeguards keep watch around every corner. With one learner swimmer and a non-swimming toddler, it helps us to relax knowing there are extra pairs of eyes on our children in the water.
After the busier weekend, when locals and expats filled the resort, the water park is noticeably quieter on the Sunday afternoon, and it feels like we are almost the last ones to leave as we coax the children out of the water when the sun sinks lower in the sky. Thank heavens we only need to take 130 baby steps to return to the hotel.
We haven’t left the Lego-themed areas all weekend (we haven’t needed to) but on Sunday night we find a reason to stroll a short distance from our colourful bubble. Legoland is part of the integrated theme park destination Dubai Parks and Resorts, and neighbouring parks include Bollywood Dubai and Motiongate.
Connecting them all is Riverland, a waterfront promenade with shops and restaurants. On Friday to Sunday in winter, this is where Dino Parade is staged, with large-scale animatronic dinosaurs including raptors. brachiosaurus and the mighty T-rex. It’s a fun half-hour of entertainment starting at 8pm, but advise your clients to get there a bit earlier for a front-row view.
On day three we go back to Legoland to revisit favourite rides, but the temperature has risen a couple of degrees, and we’re pleased to return to the hotel mid-afternoon to cool off in its outdoor swimming pool.
In an effort to wear our children out completely, we devote more time to the lobby soft play before dinner, which we have every night in the adjacent Bricks restaurant.
The menu is served buffet-style, with a few child-friendly modifications, including paper table cloths that can be drawn on with colouring pencils; a children’s food station at a lower height so they can serve themselves staples such as chicken nuggets and pasta; and unbreakable plates and water cups. These are little touches, but combine them and they become a much bigger deal.
Throw in a great bunch of staff who have a knack for interacting with children on their level, and it creates a wonderful sense of ease for parents.
When your children are not only welcomed, but treated like VIPs, you relax, knowing you’re all where you need to be. But in case you are wondering what’s in it for the adults, there is a hotel bar with alcoholic drinks, where children can be engaged with yet more Lego.
It is often said, as a parent you’re only as happy as your least happy child. Well, for three days in Legoland Dubai, we all existed in a state of bliss.
Book it: Gold Medal offers five nights at the Legoland Hotel Dubai from £1,369pp. Price based on two adults and two children sharing, departing on 5 April 2023 from Gatwick with Emirates. goldmedal.co.uk; legoland.com/dubai
Legoland Dubai spotlight
Smarter: At peak times your clients might want to consider adding a Q-Fast pass from AED 150 (about £34) to skip the queues and pack more into their day. The pass can be used unlimited times in a day.
Better: Encourage your clients to sign up for the hotel’s Creative Workshops, which give children the opportunity to take a class with Lego Master Builders. They are tailored for specific ages and there’s no additional cost.
Fairer: Plastic straws have been eliminated from the resort, and wooden cutlery is used for takeaway options. All chemicals used around the resort are eco-friendly and bathroom amenities are in refillable containers.
Recommended For You
Most read features
Competitions
Upcoming events
Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
